A networked computer for accessing Blackboard, web sites and electronic journals.
Course texts and Learning pack.
Official web accessible documents ( e.g. UN, WTO)

A. One essay (2500 words) (1,2, 4)
B. Food diary and commentary (1000 words) (2,3, 4)

Pass criteria
You will demonstrate a sound awareness and understanding of the subject matter. Assignments are expressed reasonably and coherently. Work is academically sound, evidencing focussed observations and acknowledging key questions. There is evidence of sound reading and thorough critical analysis of the available literature.

Distinction criteria
You will demonstrate an excellent awareness and understanding of the subject matter. Assignments are well argued and excellently organized. Work is academically excellent, evidencing perceptiveness, insight and demonstrating creativity and originality. There is evidence of excellent reading, systematic review and thorough critical meta-analysis of the available literature.

8 hours workshop
142 hours independent study

You will attend a workshop at which you will be introduced to the module content and learning resources and examine case study material from a variety of contexts. The workshop will also introduce module themes through the use of video and textual resources. Over subsequent weeks you will then work through self-instructional course material providing a structure for reading key texts and papers and specifying tasks to be completed. This work will be undertaken on an individual basis but at various points you will be expected to interact and share material with other students in a designated learning group

The production and distribution of food is a very contentious issue which has implications for politics, economics, culture, the environment and ethics. While millions still suffer from conventional malnutrition associated with insufficient diets, a new form of malnutrition associated with obesity and unhealthy diets is emerging as a major global health crisis. This module studies the problem of food security in its conventional conceptualisation and elaborates the concept to embrace the new challenges facing human food provisioning in the 21st century. The problems and potentialities of a globalised food provisioning system are evaluated with reference to specific case studies in the North and South. Specific themes may include: old and new conceptions of food security; equity and sustainability in food provisioning systems; globalisation and food provisioning; corporate control and democratic accountability in food systems; the Common Agricultural Policy and sustainability; rural crises in the North and South; technology and food production; malnutrition in the past and present; environmental impacts of contemporary food production systems; ethics; globalisation and industrial agriculture.

Stolen Harvests (2000) V. Shiva [London, Zed Books]
Hungry for Trade (2000) J. Madeley [London, Zed Books] Atlas of Food (2003) Millstone and Lang [London, Earthscan] Young (1997) World Hunger [London, Routledge]